Many studies in the sexual assault literature have found a significant relationship between sexual assault severity and psychological distress, specifically PTSD and suicidality. However, in the current literature, there is an inconsistent and incomplete definition of the construct of assault severity. The present study aims to create a…

All states have statutes in place to civilly commit individuals at high risk for violence. The authors address difficulties in assessing such risk but use as an example the task of predicting sexual violence recidivism; the principles espoused here generalize to predicting all violence. As part of the commitment process, mental health…

Objective: Maternal support is an important factor in predicting outcomes following disclosure of child sexual abuse; however, definition of the construct has been unclear and existing measures of maternal support are utilized inconsistently and have limited psychometric data. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid…

This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale (ATS) measurement by assessing attitudes of counselors in training towards juvenile sex offenders. The specific aims of this study were to determine (a) internal consistency of the ATS, (b) construct validity of the ATS based on exploratory factor…

This paper compares psychometric test assessments of 39 men convicted of internet sex offences with 39 convicted of contact offences against a specific victim. Higher rates of socially desirable responding were identified in the internet group, as well as higher rates of emotional loneliness and under assertiveness, although the latter two…

Seven young people have been referred to the Taith Service for downloading offences over a 3-year period. The extent to which young "downloaders" may be similar or different to adults convicted of similar offences is considered. The sample group is also compared to a larger group of young people who have engaged in contact sexual…

Background: Research on prediction of violent and sexual offending behaviour has developed considerably in the mainstream criminological literature. Apart from one publication [Quinsey (2004) "Offenders with Developmental Disabilities," pp. 131-142] this has not been extended to the field of intellectual disabilities. Methods: Work on actuarial…

In this paper, the Adolescent Sexual Abuser Project (ASAP) assessment pack-Dutch Revised Version (ASAP-D) is presented. The ASAP-D is an assessment instrument which measures the personality characteristics that are generally considered relevant in the literature for the development and perpetuation of sexually abusive behaviour in juveniles. After…